LAKKI MARWAT: A jirga of Bettani tribal chiefs has assured offull cooperation to a Chinese company planning to conduct a survey for oil and gas exploration in the Frontier Region of Lakki Marwat.
The assurance was given at a meeting held at the district headquarters complex, Tajazai, on Tuesday. Deputy commissioner Mohammad Bakhtiar Khan, who is also the political agent of FR Lakki, chaired the meeting, where officials of political administration and the Chinese firm were in attendance.
`The Bettani tribesmen are peace-loving people and the firm will not face any trouble in its survey work, said a tribal chief. He said the tribal people welcomed the move as it would bring development to the backward region.
A company official informed the meeting that they were all set to launch survey in the tribal area from next week. He said the assistance by tribal people would prove helpful in the making the survey for oil and gas exploration successful.
On the occasion, Mr Bakhtiar said cooperationof Bettani tribesmen was necessary for making the survey a success. He said the tribal region was rich in mineral resources and that the discovery of oil and gas would bring development to the tribal region.
OUTLAW ARRESTED: Police on Tuesday arrested an outlaw wanted by Islamabad and Punjab police in murders and vehicles snatching cases, during a raid in a village bordering the frontier tribal region.
The raid was conducted at a suspected hideout in Mastikhel village and the criminal identified as Gulo Khan turned himself to police without any resistance,` claimed an official. He said the raid was carried out on the instructions of DPO Syed Khalid Hamdani after he received information about the presence of wanted criminal in the border area.
The militant carries the head money of Rs1 million.
The cops also seized a pistol and bullets from the outlaw and shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation, said the official, adding the arrested man belonged to a gang of vehicles` snatchers active in parts of Punjab.Correspondent
